Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 50 miles from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including murders.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, according to sources. Authorities indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "justify and normalize the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send regular army in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed sending troops to over ten cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Data shows that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for example, murders were down 31% to 278 through August, per police data.
New survey data published on that day found that most Americans oppose the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
